I was surprised how much I intensley disliked this movie, and surprised by the lack of criticism, if not by mainstream critics, then on here. Somewhere in there, in the set up, and the few scenes with Zoe Kravitz there is a quality movie, but you are looking at mere scraps. The rest is a glaringly superficial, embarrassing, badly written, broadly played misstep that has has much trouble finding it's tone, as it does supplying it's leads with motivations or relatable situations.
Of all things, ASAP Rocky turned in a serviceable, even above average performance.....but I am so tired of the routine where 'street' guys use 'big' words and explain concepts, haha they are stupid and drug dealers, they don't understand things. 'Slippery Slope' is that like skiing? Hilarious. This has been used since at least 'Starsky & Hutch', and used better. Much better. Pharrell Williams cameo fell almost completely flat, without a single funny line or action, which segues into the flat and lifeless, and most importantly humorless scene mentioned first. Right from around this point is where I was losing faith, the complete abandonment of realism, and of relatable teenage coming of age situations blurs very quickly from already shaky grounds (getting your shoes stolen in high school? in front of a security guard? Playing your garage band in the school lab with maybe 6k in equipment. uhh huh) to increasingly contrived and absurd ones.
Characters are scarcely developed, She's a lesbian. Ho ho. He's of questionable racial ancestry. Haha. Then we get to club where in poorly written scenes, which are both insulting and worthy of the straight to DVD movie Ja Rule and Pras starred in, we witness the textbook 'big drug deal', conducted in a nightclub on the man's birthday in some sort of dimly lit back office. Then, there is an attempted robbery, and a police raid at the same time, in never explained, arbitrary circumstances. In the ensuing confusion, Malcom is handed about 4 kilos of molly and a pistol. Men are also shot, killed, murdered. We will get back to that.
The downhill trajectory continues, sans one funny, self referential moment regarding the price Jay and Jeezy allegedly paid for bricks.....in a poorly directed and inane chase scene, our trio is pursued by goons, bent on stealing the 4 kilos. They transition into the movies next cliche, the sexual, bored rich girl willing to bed our hero, and rid him or his virginity, but things don't go as planned. AJ's son was funny in a moment or two, but very over the top... next we have the gross out gag, and the movie attempts to double down upon this. It doesn't work. Next we have the time honored cliche of the Harvard Alumni being the drug kingpin. This was introduced in early 90's thrillers like 'The Substitute' and others, and parodied in 'High School High' in 1996, it has worn thin, and further drags the movie down in a grating and obnoxious scene by some obnoxious fukk chewing the scenery as AJ for 5 minutes.
Now, Malcom has his task. Sell the drugs, as inferred to him by the Harvard kingpin. Let the wacky caper begin. The plot is fukking stupid, I'll just leave it at that, and stop breaking it down...it gets no better after the midpoint.
What were the directors and writers thinking? What is the message in this? Be a black kid who isn't a drug dealer or criminal (what audience are they aiming at where this is SUCH an anomaly, I wonder) and find your strength and self through selling drugs and carrying pistols? Are they fukking serious? Introduce a white character who utters almost no worthwhile lines who helps the kids distribute the drugs. Several murders are committed throughout and no one seems to care much. It's not that they are numb to the senseless killings, it that the movie doesn't know what it wants to say. Or maybe they are saying it. 'Dope' needed several rewrites or maybe a complete scrap, this was absolute trash. An obvious, cheap, pandering movie that is insulting when it is not stupid, and both at the same time, when it is not transparently sentimental, in bizarre ways, as Malcom pulls a pistol to defend his drug money, seriousness abounds. I don't know what happened to the talented guy who directed 'The Wood', which was realistic, touching, relatable, funny and genuinely entertaining. A screwball comedy that contains no humor, awful writing, and some serious ethically questionable material, all the the name of good fun. The running joke of saying the n word was also bizarre, and in truly bad taste. What was the message there? What were the filmmakers conveying? This movie is hollow with the heart of 'How High' and straight to DVD hood movies, and none of the humor.
* Any brownie points the movie earned by playing Nas and whatever else was past exhausted by the time the credits finally rolled.
..that and the part where the white4 stoner dude said he only fukked in the ass and not in the p*ssy and asked if he was technically gay were the only parts i laughed out loud at..and maybe half a chuckle at them clowning dude for using a hard "C"
